Well, that was good to know. At least he wasn’t planning on killing me outright.
“She did it to herself,” Brandon insisted as he oozed up to join us. “She’s always been a mean, stubborn little bitch.” I noted the look of distaste on the guards’ faces. As well as the Elder’s. Someone doesn’t like you very much, Brandon.
“So you say,” the Elder commented drily, motioning a guard closer. The huge vampire bent down as the Elder whispered something, then stepped back at attention. “Nevertheless, she will remain untouched.”
“Well, I was right, wasn’t I?” Brandon called out as the Elder did the weird gliding thing straight toward me. “I told you she’d do anything to save that company, and she did.”
The old vampire drew closer as Brandon watched on in fascination. Hands held me in position as he closed in, every inch of me shrinking away. Up close…well, I just wish I didn’t have to see what he looked like up close and personal. He was horrendous—I could see rot growing just below the surface of his face, the blue veins seemed to actually wiggle and his eyes were milky in the sunlight, one of them almost white.
“You eluded Dobson,” he said. “Where is he now?”
Not about to give this asshole anything, I clamped my mouth shut. Predictably, the squirmy sensation creeped through my skull as I put every ounce of effort into propping up my shields. After a minute, he gave up, leaving me nauseated and sweaty.
“He’s dead,” the Elder said, satisfaction in his voice. “I don’t need to read your thoughts to know.”
We engaged in a short, pointless staring contest until I decided I didn’t want to look into his gross eyes anymore.
“You will be taken back to Scotland, where you will perform the same task you did for Forge. Except”—his gaze turned keen—“this time, there will a high cost for failure, as well as for any small betrayals. You may believe yourself free, but that would be a mistake. You answer to me from now on, and me alone. Consider me your…keeper.” A flash of pointed yellow teeth was the closest he got to humor.
“Why me?” I asked, genuinely curious. “How did you know to target me?”
“You are the first female born in the Langston family in centuries. Ambrose Langston had a touch of Fae, but as a female…” His veined hands clenched at his sides. “It was logical you’d possess the full ability, as it’s passed to descendants through the blood, and only to females.”
Well, at least I finally had an explanation for my gift. Such that it was.
“Did Forge happen to mention to you how he and your ancestor met?”
When I didn’t deign to answer, he went on, a hint of his strange accent creeping into the words.
“He killed one of us, to protect that human.” The Elder’s face tightened. “My predecessor, if it can be believed. A human killing an Elder. The clan could not believe it happened, and for that alone, we should have hunted him down and killed him. But instead…Mara became fascinated with the human. Once she’d turned him, he became one of us, and was expected to forget about his human life. And his human friends.” The Elder said the word friend as if it were poison on his tongue. Suddenly, I understood just how lonely Bastian had been all these years, surrounded by nothing but poisonous snakes.
Strangely enough, Mara’s name didn’t bring on the surge of jealousy it had before, as if somehow I’d made my peace with her and Forge’s past.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“You are going to make me the most powerful vampire in the world, not just of the Highland clans. You’ve only touched the surface of your ability—once you are properly motivated, I intend to use you as a weapon against my enemies.”
“Huh. Good luck with that.” I snorted, twisting my hands against the restraints. “I’ll never do anything for you, much less help you take over the world.” Seriously, why couldn’t people just be happy with what they had? Besides, this guy was a physical wreck—good luck ruling the world while you fell apart.
He went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “You will uncover any plots against me, ferret out my opponents’ weaknesses and determine whom I can trust. If you are correct in your predictions, you will continue to live. If you fail me…”
“Once again, I’ll never do anything for you, least of all help you get more power.”
“Brave words, human. Brave words.”
There was a scrambling sound, and one of the bookend bodyguards dragged Emerson Holloway in front of me, his hands bound, just like mine, his hair askew, his glasses gone. If there was one thing Emerson hated, it was when he lost his glasses.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
I nodded, looking him over for any apparent injuries. Aside from his rumpled appearance, he seemed unharmed. But I had to admit, the Elder certainly knew how to choose the right leverage, as the bodyguard’s fangs extended and he bent Emerson sideways to expose his throat.
I only lasted a second before I stopped this madness.
“Fine,” I spat. “I’ll do what you want. Just don’t hurt him.”
Gratitude shone in Emerson’s eyes as the bodyguard relaxed his grip and set him back on his feet effortlessly, as if he were a child. “I’m sorry, Selena,” Emerson said quietly, as if he had anything to apologize for. “I tried, but I couldn’t outrun them.”
If we weren’t facing down death, I would have laughed at the mental picture of Holloway trying to outrun vampires, but as it was, there was nothing funny about this. I was going to have to comply with this asshole Elder’s demands, at least until Forge found me, which was the hope I was hanging on to right now.
“Set him free, and I’ll go with you,” I said, keeping my eye
